It's been announced that Rafa Nadal will not play again in 2016. Here is what he said: “It is no secret that I arrived to the Olympic Games short of preparation and not fully recovered, but the goal was to compete and win a medal for Spain.

“This forced recovery has caused me pain since then and now I am forced to stop and start preparing the 2017 season.”

A shame for Rafa but probably a good call. Paris/London aren't his best events and it makes sense to give himself the best chance of being fully fit for Oz. Good chance to gain points there after a R1 exit last year.

At the start of next year, it will be 3 years since he has won a hard court title. If anything, his results have been steadily getting worse since then. Have to feel his only chance now of picking up another major is RG.

@bs - not really. If your buddy is opening a sports academy you might want to emphasise the extent to which hard work and technical details have played a part in the development of both of your games - which is exactly what he did. If it's said to be all about talent that's not really in keeping with the point of an academy is it?

Anyway, Federer has explicitly praised Nadal's talent in the past - http://www.eurosport.co.uk/tennis/federer-i-knew-from-the-start-that-nadal-would-become-better-than-me_sto5323207/story.shtml. If you want to see a compliment, going over to Majorca to be at the opening is pretty big, no?

I like the mutual respect too between Fed and Nadal. It's an honor for Fed that he was invited for the opening ceremony, the only player among current players in the main tour to have that honor and Fed gladly obliged by showing his presence there. Nadal truly has great respect for Fed!